National Basketball Association

Suns rotation balance a study in progress

Published Oct. 13, 2014 1:23 p.m. ET

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PHOENIX -- In shopping for important preseason themes, please note the Suns' exhibition games are all about rotation, rotation, rotation.

According to coach Jeff Hornacek, three or four of these dress rehearsals may be required before he settles on anything close to a regular flow. But even though players and coaches generally prefer continuity, lineup regularity may not be easy to accomplish with this year's Suns roster.

"We've got a lot of guys that can play," Hornacek said. "We're going to keep reiterating to these guys that some nights you'd like to say you kind of have a set rotation, but I don't think with this team ... it's probably going to be more feel of who's playing well that night, what group of guys are playing well together will play longer.

"Guys can't worry about that -- the next game will be their game, who knows?"

In Friday's preseason triumph over the Denver Nuggets, the Morris twins came off the bench after incumbent P.J. Tucker and newcomer Anthony Tolliver started at the forward slots.

Teamed with Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and center Miles Plumlee, this lineup fared much better than the Suns starters -- with the twins at forward -- did in the opener against Flamengo (Brazil).

When Hornacek subbed out all five starters at 2:26 of the first quarter Friday, Phoenix held a 22-21 edge. By the time he began making changes vs. Flamengo, the Suns trailed 15-8.

The variables -- including matchups, motivation and subsequent intensity -- aren't always the same, of course.

"Again, we'll have to see how it all plays out in our combinations,"Hornacek said. "Looking at analytics stuff throughout the preseason and, obviously, P.J. can't play in the first three games anyway."

Hornacek was referencing Tucker's season-opening suspension after pleading guilty to super extreme DUI.

"Marcus (Morris) and T.J. (Warren) or whoever we will decide to do that will have to fill in."

A two-player combination that has thrived thus far is newcomer Isaiah Thomas co-starring with second-year Sun Gerald Green.

In the opener with Flamengo, they combined for 19 points (Thomas had 10 of his game-high 18) during a fourth-quarter spurt that transformed an unexpectedly close game into a double-digit victory.

Thomas, who missed all three of his field-goal attempts in the opening half, scored 8 points in the third.

The trend continued Friday, with Thomas and Green combining for 19 points off the bench. That included a plus-eight-run from late in the first through late in the second with the mercurial guards on the floor.

"Those two guys are scorers," Hornacek said. "Isaiah knows the game. He has a smart basketball IQ, so when he knows he's got Gerald somewhere out there, if we don't make the call, he makes the call for that."

T.J. Warren, the Suns' selection with the 14th overall pick in last June's draft, wasn't supposed to be much of a 3-point threat.

But in his first two Suns appearances, the 6-foot-8 tough-bucket getter from North Carolina State made 3 of 5 3s.

Warren looked embarrassed by all of the fuss after he made half of his four 3-pointers against the Nuggets -- "I was just going out and playing basketball," he said.

While shot mechanics still suggest we shouldn't expect this caliber of long-distance marksmanship to continue, one sustainable upgrade -- at least from the pre-draft scouting reports -- is Warren's ability to guard the ball.

This underrated skill was brought up Hornacek before training camp began.

Since then, we've witnessed Warren's ability to move laterally in cutting off straight-line drives to the basket.

With former Arizona Wildcat Marcus Williams being extremely aggressive in his bid to make the Denver Nuggets, Warren -- who had that defensive matchup -- was more than up to the challenge.

Warren's defensive uprising also is on display in pre-game workouts, during which he often is required to stay in front of Archie Goodwin or Zoran Dragic in 3-on-3 situations.

With the caveat that the Suns have engaged just one NBA team while in the midst of heavy lineup experimentation, we're not exactly blown away by the first week from Markieff Morris.

Considered a candidate for a moderately-impressive breakout season by fantasy mavens, Markieff has only on 6 of his 15 field-goal attempts through games with Flamengo and the Denver.

Although he did make 2 of 3 bombs from behind the 3-point line against the Nuggets (he didn't shoot any vs. Flamengo), Morris -- who signed a four-year, $32 million contract extension just before training camp began -- hasn't looked crisp in his efforts closer to the hoop.

And with Kenneth Faried taking last Friday night off, Markieff managed to collect only 1 rebound in 16 minutes.

The Houston Rockets will be without center Dwight Howard when they square off with the Suns on Monday night. While this might allow Hornacek to take a look at a small-ball lineup with Morris in the middle, the Suns coach usually prefers this approach when the opposition is going big.

He looks to gain an advantage from the contrast.

Follow Randy Hill on Twitter

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